Ford, General Motors, Honda and Toyota, worried that they’ll need to offer large incentives to sell their share of ZEVs, are pushing California to rewrite its formula to offer more credit for plug-in hybrids such as the Volt. In a complaint to the California Air Resources Board, they argue that these vehicles address range anxiety and are more likely to be accepted by customers in the short run. Dan Sperling, a CARB member and director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California-Davis, said during the hearing that he’s sympathetic to the e-miles argument. He said he would rather have two plug-in hybrids on the road than one all-electric vehicle. ”I’m willing to make a bet with you,” he told CARB Chairman Mary Nichols. “If we provided a more flexible approach, we are likely to get far more e-miles in 2030 than we would with pure EVs. I really don’t believe by 2030 we’re going to be able to get a really large market penetration with pure EVs.”

A very recent study, from UC-Davis scholars Natalie Popovich and Susan Handy, analyzed nearly 1,900 shopping trips to downtown Davis made after the opening of a new Target store. Cyclists not only took slightly more trips than drivers did, but spent more per trip—leading to a monthly total spending of roughly $250 for cyclists to $180 for drivers. The results were especially impressive considering they only reflect spending on the type of goods available at Target, not food or services. According to the extrapolated frequencies and per-trip spending— even without accounting for spending on food, drink, and services— study results indicate that the customers who travel by bike to shop downtown spend as much money as their car-driving counterparts or more each month.